Sorting case



Patented Mar. 16, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SORTING CASE Lloyd Emil Yates, St. Louis, Mo.

Application June 17, 1941, Serial No. 398,463

Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in sorting cases of the type which may be used in sorting mail or other articles.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved sorting case which will facilitate the sorting, of mailand other articles.

The sorting case provided by my invention provides double the number of compartments present in the type of sorting case most `generally inuse and accomplishes this end without appreciably increasing the size of the case. This latter consideration is especially important since slight saving in the time required to` sort'iterns would be realized if the distributor or sorter were required to change his position in front of the case too often. The sorting cases now in use are thus designed and limited in size by the average reach of a sorter or distributor, so that it is possible to stand in front of the case and easily reach all the compartments.

cation of each compartment is almost automatically found by the sorter.

The device provided by my invention thus provides more sorting spaces in practically the same overall face area and easier recognizable spaces in a case occupying the same floor area as previous cases.

The above and further objects and advantages will appear from the following detailed description and the appended claims.`

I refer now to the drawing in which I show one form of the invention which I have found to function very satisfactorily and which I show here for purposes of illustration.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a front plan view of a mail sorting cabinet built according to this invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a, rear plan view of the upper portion of the mail sorting cabinet; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of one of the compartments shown in Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing the numeral I0 indicates generally a mail sorting cabinet provided with legs I2 and a counter or ledge I4. I6 indicates a front facing board and I8 ends for the ledge. 2U indicates the front compartments orsortingv spaces formed by vertical spacers 22, full length horizontal spacers 24 and short length horizontal spacers 26. The rear of` the front compartments are closed by partitions 28. 30 indicates openings leading to rear compartments 32. 'I'he rear compartments are formed by the vertical spacers 22, the full length horizontal spacers 24, and the partitions 28. The rear compartments are closed by Wire guards 34, secured in any'suitable manner as by inserting the ends in openings 36 drilled into the parts as shown. A legend tag 38 may be afxed to each wire ior purposes of identifying each compartment. The front compartments are formed by vertical spacers 22, full length horizontal spacers 24, short length horizontal spacers 26, and partitions 28. The short length horizontal spacers form the top of the front compartments and the full length horizontal spacers 24 form the bottom of the front compartments. Slots or openings 40 may be provided at the rear end of the full length horizontal spacers 24. It can be seen from the drawing that the space between the full length horizontal spacers 24 and the short length horizontal spacers 26 provides a slot through which mail or other items to be sorted may slide into the rear compartments.

21 denotes the top of the cabinet and 29 a iinishing board.

Suitable legends 42 are provided on the face of the cabinet.

Slots 43 may be provided as shown in the horizontal spacers, so that any mail becoming stuck in the slide may be seen and dislodged.

In operation, the mail or other items to be sorted are piled onto the ledge I4. The person doing the sorting then stands in front of the sorting cabinet and throws the mail or other items into the proper front compartment 20 or opening 30 leading to the rear compartment 32. The horizontal spacers are provided with a suitable slope, so that the mail or other items do not stick but slide into the rear compartment. The mail or other items are then removed as the compartments become lled. The space between the wire guards 34 and the slots 40 facilitate the removal of the mail fromthese rear compartments.

The degree of slope given the horizontal spacers may be adjusted to the weight and size of items being sorted.

It can thus be seen that the surface exposed to an operator has been conserved so as not to require more than a normal reach and yet double the usual number of compartments has been provided.

It can also be seen that each small opening has been spaced vertically from other small openings by a large opening. This spacing facilitates easy recognition of the sorting spaces and promotes great speed in sorting.

While I have shown one form of my invention which I have found to operate satsfactorily it will become apparent to those skilled in the art that various additions, omissions and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as dened by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A sorting case having compartments opening on the front face thereof, said compartments each having a downward sloping top and bottom, rear compartments behind and in line with said rst named compartments, a passage formed between the sloping top and bottom of vertically adjacent front compartments, said passage leading to the rear compartment behind and in line with the front'compartment whose top forms the bottom of the passage.

2. A sorting case provided with front compartments opening on the face thereof, rear compartmentshehind the front compartments, said front compartments being'provided with opposed sides and a sloping top and bottom, a continuation of the sloping bottom forming the bottom of one rear compartment. and top of another rearcompartment, a sloping passage formed between vertically adjacent front compartments by the space between the bottom of one front. compartment and top of the front compartment below said passage leading to a rear compartment.

3. A sorting case having a plurality of similar cells, said cells having sloping bottoms, vertical transverse partitions in said cells extending from the bottom partially to the top thereof to form front and rear compartments, sloping partitions in said cells extending from the front thereof to join the top of the vertical partitions, said sloping partitions cooperating with the bottoms of the front compartments to form passages leading `from the front of the case to the rear compartments.

4. A sorting case having a plurality of hori- Zontal rows of front compartments, accessible from the front of the sorting case, a plurality of horizontal rows of rear compartments arranged behind the front compartments and accessible from the rear of the sorting case, a plurality of vertically spaced rows of passages passing over the front compartments and leading from the front of the case to the rear compartments, at least one row of front compartments coming between vertically adjacent rows of passages.

5. A sorting case having a group of compartments opening on the front face thereof, a group of rear compartments directly behind and abutting the group of front compartments, sloping passages over the front compartments having i openings on the front face of the sorting case,

LLOYD EMIL YATES. 

